Leading supply chain solutions provider, Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ: MANH), today announced that Woolworths, the UK retailer focused on the home, family and entertainment, has completed its implementation of Manhattan Associates’ supply chain platform at its distribution centre in Stoke-on-Trent in just 16 weeks. The distribution centre, run on behalf of Woolworths by leading logistics services provider Wincanton, is dedicated to Woolworth’s e-commerce operation. The woolworths.co.uk channel offers 200,000 products and includes a wide range of entertainment goods from DVD’s and games to HD Ready TV’s, BBQ’s and outdoor furniture, plus a huge range of electrical products.

A review of Woolworths’ existing distribution network concluded that optimizing the fulfilment capability of its e-commerce operation was dependent on having a specific supply chain solutions infrastructure capable of handling large volumes of small orders. It also concluded that to fully exploit the accelerating trend of consumers buying online, it needed to deploy such a solution quickly and without compromising quality.

“Managing inventory for stores often means fulfilling orders for a small number of items in large quantities. In contrast, an e-commerce operation processes large volumes of orders, each typically consisting of a small number of individual units of either a single or several stock-keeping units (SKUs). It therefore needs a dedicated system to fulfil demand,” said Tim Owrid, supply chain director at Woolworths. “The Manhattan Associates system allowed us to make significant improvements in terms of visibility and efficiency in a matter of weeks. Such a rapid implementation capability was a critical factor in our selection process and Manhattan Associates was the obvious choice given that rival solutions would have taken up to a year to deploy. We just couldn’t wait that long to see improvements – especially as Christmas is just around the corner. Getting the right products to the customer on time is our main priority.”

“Manhattan Associates has gained a huge amount of experience with large scale e-commerce operations in a relatively short space of time,” commented Allen Scott, UK managing director at Manhattan Associates. “We have developed a template solution for e-commerce customers that can be deployed extremely rapidly. This worked incredibly well for Woolworths’ requirements and we are delighted to be working with them.”About Woolworths

Woolworths Group plc is principally a UK retailer focused on the home, family and entertainment. Woolworths offers its customers value-for-money on an extended range of products. It is built around the well known Woolworths brand which is represented in towns and cities throughout the UK. For in-depth information about Woolworths Group plc and its businesses please visit www.woolworthsgroupplc.com.About Manhattan Associates, Inc.